Ore testing system



Dec. 28, 1954 c. H. SLEEMAN ORE TESTING SYSTEM Filed June 24, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR C/arence HS/eeman 4 w Dec. 28, 1954 c. H. SLEEMAN om: TESTING SYSTEM 2 SheetsSheet 2 Filed June 24, 1949 Ill m m w C n 8 v P b C United States Patent ORE TESTING SYSTEM Clarence H. Sleeman, Calumet, Minn., assignor to Inter- State Iron Company, Virginia, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota Application June 24, 1949, Serial No. 101,021

8 Claims. or. 209-1725 This invention relates to apparatus and method of testing ore, particularly for testing on a laboratory scale the content of heavy density ore in small coarse samples of crude ore.

In order to test a sample of crude ore the sample is introduced into a fluid medium containing a suspension of extremely fine particles having a specific gravity between that of the heavy density ore and the impurities associated therewith. The resultant mixture is then agitated so that the impurities float to the top of the mixture while the heavy density ore sinks to the bottom of the mixture. After the separation of the heavy ore from the lighter impurities has been substantially completed by the continued agitation of the mixture, the ore and the impurities are separately removed from the mixture and the ore is weighed to determine the amount of the heavy density ore in the sample under test.

It is the ultimate purpose of my invention to provide the most effective and simple apparatus and procedure for carrying out this test. My apparatus is devised for use on a laboratory scale and my method of testing saves a great deal of time as compared with the standard socalled bucket test, which calls for pouring a mixture of water, ferro-silicon and the crude ore sample into a bucket and manually stirring the mixture with a wooden paddle while periodically screening off the floating impurities. It ordinarily takes three men to complete a maximum of fifteen tests per day using the laborious bucket method, whereas one man operating my laboratory testing apparatus can complete with ease and substantially without fatigue eighteen tests per day. This saving of time and effort is particularly important in view of the need for many tests during exploration, mining and concentration of ores. The details and other advantages of my invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and in the accompanying drawings.

I have shown in the drawings, for purposes of illustration only, a present preferred embodiment of the apparatus of my invention in which:

Figure l is a side elevation of testing apparatus incorporating my invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view of the apparatus shown in Figure 1 (taken on the line IIIIII of Figure 1 Figure 4 is a plan view of the table portion of the apparatus shown in Figure l, with the other parts removed; and

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a scoop for use in conjunction with the apparatus shown in Figure 1.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, I provide a support table having a trough 11 with a bottom outlet 12. A pair of horizontal spaced rollers 13 and 14 are rotatably mounted on the table 10 and a hollow cylindrical drum 15 is rotatably mounted on the rollers 13 and 14 by means of a pair of spaced rails 16 which extend around the drum 15 and rest upon and are in rolling engagement with the rollers 13 and 14. An electric motor 17 is mounted on the table 10 and drives the roller 13 through a speed reduction drive from a pulley 1S keyed to the motor shaft. A belt 19 extends around the pulley 18 and thence around a larger pulley 20 keyed to an intermediate shaft 21, and a belt 22 extends around a pulley 23 keyed to the shaft 21 and thence around a relatively larger pulley 24 keyed to a shaft 25 extend ing axially from and keyed to the roller 13. The inter- "ice mediate shaft 21 is rotatably mounted in. a support 21a fastened to the top of the table 10 and a control box 17a for the motor is conveniently mounted on an edge of the table 10 on the same side of the drum 15 as the drum access opening hereinafter described.

The drum 15 has a circular and axially concentric opening 26 in one side thereof and has a peripheral discharge port or opening 27 disposed between rails 16 and sealed by a removable cover plate 28. Threaded studs 29 and 30 extend radially from the drum 15 on either side of the port 27 and slidably extend through openings in the cover plate 28, which is held in place by Wing nuts 31 and 32 screwed on the respective studs 29 and 30. Agitator bars 33 of generally equilateral tri-' angular cross-section are spaced along the interior cylindrical surface of the drum with their ends screwed to the sides of the drum. A pair of openings with removable cover plates 34 and 35 are provided on one side of the drum in order to facilitate washing out the drum between tests.

The drum is positionedso that when the discharge port 27 is at its lowermost position during rotation of the drum it is positioned directly over the trough outlet 12 in the table. An inclined chute 36 is secured beneath the table 10 with its upper end directly below the outlet 12 and its lower end directly above a screen 38 resting on and extending across the top of a container 37. The screen 38 is readily removable from the container 37 by means of lifting tabs 39 secured to the sides of the screen (Figure 2).

My method of using the above described apparatus to test a sample of crude ore for its high density ore content is as follows: The drum 15 is filled with water to the approximate level shown in dotted lines at 40 in Figure l, the water having in it a suspension of sufiicient ferro-silicon to float materials in the sample which have a specific gravity substantially less than that of the desired high density ore. A quantity of the sample is weighed and charged into the drum through the opening 26 and the motor 17 is turned on to drive the drum at approximately 12 revolutions per minute. The mixture in the drum is thereby agitated, especially as it tumble's over the bars 33, and this action accelerates the separation of the high density ore from the other material The material rising to the top of the fluid mixture is scooped from the upper surface of the mixture by a scoop inserted and removed through the access opening 26. A scoop suitable for this purpose is illustrated in Figure 5 and consists of a wire basket 41 secured to a handle 42. The period of rotation of the drum necessary to cause substantially all of the low density material to rise so that it can be scooped out is usually about twominutes. The rotation of the drum is not interrupted during the scooping operation.

After the low density matter has been scooped out the motor 17 is turned off and the rotation of the drum is halted with the discharge port 27 directly over the trough outlet 12. The cover plate 28 is then removed and all of the remaining mixture is drained out of the drum and down the chute 36 onto the screen 38. The

' mesh of the screen 38 is selected to hold the relatively coarse ore particles and to pass the ferro-silicon particles suspended in the water. The mixture of water and ferro: silicon which passes through the screen 38 into the container 37 is substantially free of any particles of ore and ore impurities and may be used again in subsequent tests.

The mounting of the drum in my testing apparatus enables the drum to be removed and replaced for cleaning purposes between tests merely by lifting it off the rollers 13 and 14, without disarranging the driving mechanism. The trough 11 makes it unnecessary to take time to position the dischargeport 27 carefully in order to prevent spilling and consequent loss of any part of the sample during the draining of the drum. The rails 16 serve to channel fluid down along the cylindrical side of the drum onto trough 11 if part of the sample spills out of the drum while it is being rocked back and forth to get the last of the sample out past the battles adjacent the uncovered port 27, or while the drum is rotated.

to bring the port 27 into lowermost position if the cover plate 28 should be removed while in uppermost position (shown in Figure 1). These and the other above described features of my apparatus. make it possible to conduct a maximum number of tests with a minimum amount of time and effort and contribute to the superior efficiencyof my method and apparatus as compared with Previous testing practices.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention and have illustrated .a present preferred method of practicing the same, it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is not limited thereto but may be otherwise variously employed, em bodied, and practiced within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for testing the high density ore content of a crude ore sample, comprising a container rotatable about a substantially horizontal axis, means to rotate the container, .an axially located and unobstructed access opening in the container through which the sample to be tested and a liquid containing fine particles in suspension are chargeable into the container and through which a scoop may be inserted to remove relatively light mate rials floating to the top of the liquid mixture in the container, a peripherally located discharge opening in the container through which the balance of the mixture may i? be drained out of the container, a cover removably mounted over said peripheral opening, and a screen disposed to receive the said balance of the mixture draining out of the container and adapted to pass the said liquid and fine particles while retaining substantially all of the ore particles.

2. Apparatus for testing the high density ore content of a crude ore sample, comprising a container rotatable about a substantially horizontal axis, means to rotate the container, an axially located and unobstructed access opening in the container through which the sample to be tested and a liquid containing fine particles in suspension are chargeable into the container and through which a scoop may be inserted to remove relatively light materials floating to the top of the liquid mixture in the container, at peripherally located discharge opening in the container through which the balance of the mixture may be drained out of the container, a cover removably mounted over said peripheral opening, a screen disposed to receive the said balance of the mixture draining out of the container and adapted to pass the said liquid and fine particles while retaining substantially all of the ore particles, and a container beneath and supporting the screen to hold the liquid and the fine particles therein for subsequent re-use.

3. Apparatus for testing high density ore content of a crude ore sample, comprising a container rotatable about a substantially horizontal axis, means to rotate the container, an axially concentric circular and unobstructed access opening in the container through which the sample to be tested and a liquid containing fine particles in suspension are chargeable into the container and through which a scoop may be inserted to remove relatively light materials floating to the top of the liquid mixture in the container, spaced bars disposed against the interior peripheral surface of the container for agitating the mixture during rotation of the container, a peripherally located discharge opening in the container through which the balance of the mixture may be drained out of the container, a cover removably mounted over said peripheral opening, and a screen disposed to receive the said balance of the mixture draining out of the container and adapted to pass the said liquid and fine particles while retaining substantially all of theore particles.

4. Apparatus for testing the high density ore content of a crude ore sample, comprising a container rotatable about a substantially horizontal axis, means to rotate the container, an axially located and unobstructed access opening in the container through which the sample to be tested and a liquid containing fine particles in suspension are chargeable into the container and through which a scoop may be inserted to remove relatively light materials floating to the top of the liquid mixture in the container, a peripherally located discharge opening in the container through which the balance of the mixture may be drained out of the container, a cover removably mounted over said peripheral opening, and a trough disposed below the container and extending laterally be neath a wide range of positions of the discharge opening as it swings toward and past its lowermost position, said.

trough being downwardly slanted toward an outlet opening therein, whereby the balance of the mixture draining out of the container is caught so that it may all be directed onto a suitable screen for isolating the heavy density ore particles, said screen being positioned beneath the lower end of the trough.

5. Apparatus for testing the high density ore content of a crude ore sample, comprising a hollow cylindrical drum rotatable about a substantially horizontal axis, means to rotate the drum, an axially concentric circular and unobstructed opening in the drum throughwhich ore to be tested and a liquid containing fine particles in suspension are chargeable into the drum and through which a scoop may be inserted to remove relatively light materials floating to the top of the liquid mixture in the drum, spaced bars of triangular cross-section extending parallel to the axis of rotation and disposed against the interior peripheral surface of the drum for agitating mixture during rotation of the drum, a discharge opening in the cylindrical wall of the drum through which the balance of the mixture may be drained out of the drum, a cover removably mounted over the said discharge opening, a slanting chute having its upper end disposed to receive the discharge from the said latter opening when it is in its lowermost position, and a screen positioned beneath the lower end of the chute and adapted to pass the said liquid and fine particles while retaining substantially all of the ore particles.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 in which the drum is supported and rotated by means comprising a pair of spaced parallel rollers, means secured to and extending around the outer cylindrical portion of the drum and resting upon said rollers, and driving means connected to one of said rollers, whereby the drum may readily be removed for cleaning and then replaced without disturbing or adjusting the driving connections.

7. Apparatus according to claim 5 in which a trough is disposed beneath the drum with a discharge opening in the trough disposed directly above the upper end of the discharge chute, thereby preventing any loss of the test sample as a result of inaccurate positioning of the drum discharge opening during the draining or" the drum.

8. Apparatus for testing samples of ore and the like. comprising a portable hollow cylindrical drum, a structure including a trough, and a pair of spaced rollers mounted on said structure to rotate about parallel horizontal axes spaced apart less than the diameter of the drum, Said drum having a pair of spaced rails extending around its cylindrical side and adapted to removably rest and roll on said rollers to support the drum over the trough for rotation about a horizontal axis, said drum having a pair of spaced parallel circular end walls and a cylindrical wall extending between and secured to the edges of the end walls to retain liquid in the lower portion of the drum while it is mounted on said rollers, one of said end walls having a concentric circular unobstructed opening therethrough for access into the interior of the drum, said cylindrical wall having a discharge opening therethrough disposed between said rails, and said drum having a series of spaced solid structural members parallel to the drum axis and each in the form of a prism of generally equilateral triangular cross section with one side against the interior surface of the cylindrical wall of the drum, said members being secured at their opposite ends to the end walls of the drum and serving to brace the cylindrical wall of the drum against deflection of the rails as they pass over the rollers and also to agitate the liquid in the drum as the drum rotates on the rollers.

References Cited in the file of this patent 

1. APPARATUS FOR TESTING THE HIGH DENSITY ORE CONTENT OF A CRUDE ORE SAMPLE, COMPRISING A CONTAINER ROTATABLE ABOUT A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL AXIS, MEANS TO ROTATE THE CONTAINER, AN AXIALLY LOCATED AND UNOBSTRUCTED ACCESS OPENING IN THE CONTAINER THROUGH WHICH THE SAMPLE TO BE TESTED AND A LIQUID CONTAINING FINE PARTICLES IN SUSPENSION ARE CHARGEABLE INTO THE CONTAINER AND THROUGH WHICH A SCOOP MAY BE INSERTED TO REMOVE RELATIVELY LIGHT MATERIALS FLOATING TO THE TOP OF THE LIQUID MIXTURE IN THE CONTAINER, A PERIPHERALLY LOCATED DISCHARGE OPENING IN THE CONTAINER THROUGH WHICH THE BALANCE OF THE MIXTURE MAY BE DRAINED OUT OF THE CONTAINER, A COVER REMOVABLY MOUNTED OVER SAID PERIPHERAL OPENING, AND A SCREEN DISPOSED TO RECEIVE THE SAID BALANCE OF THE MIXTURE DRAINING OUT OF THE CONTAINER AND ADAPTED TO PASS THE SAID LIQUID AND FINE PARTICLES WHILE RETAINING SUBSTANTIALLY ALL OF THE ORE PARTICLES. 